Robot designers' creations provide insight into nature and machines

Chris Stephens/The Plain DealerDr. Poramente Manoonpong of the University of Goettingen in Germany works on his six-legged robot inspired by a cockroach during a demonstration Monday afternoon at Case Western Reserve University. The university is hosting the fourth International Symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines.What's open to the public?The symposium on adaptive motion of animals and machines at Case Western Reserve University this week is closed to the public, but everyone can see part of their mechanical menagerie in action at the Great Lakes Science Center from 1 to 2 p.m. Thursday.

Imagine a headless pack mule that eats fossil fuels, a metal spider running over land and water, or a radio-controlled moth orbiting a light bulb.

Living creatures are showing engineers a better way to build machines. These mechanical creatures, in turn, are giving researchers in the natural sciences a better understanding of the animals that inspired them.

Roger Quinn, director of Case's Robotics Lab and co-chairman of the symposium, said the small robots can explore hostile environments, from volcanoes and collapsed mines to mine fields.

Robotic innovations also can replace missing limbs or help to rehabilitate stroke victims by exercising or assisting muscles, Quinn said.

On Monday, images were shown of a live moth with a clipped wing to explain how the creature can compensate for the impediment. A video of a small robotic dog was used to demonstrate how four-legged creatures adapt to rough terrain, and there was a presentation about the use of artificial limbs in similar conditions.

Speakers include those with backgrounds in psychology, anthropology, biology, zoology, physiology, electrical and mechanical engineering and, of course, robotics.

Marc Raibert, president of Boston Dynamics, said he and his company created a machine called Big Dog for the Department of Defense. It is a mechanized pack mule and will not be at the symposium.

"We've been studying how animals do locomotion for a long time," Raibert said in an earlier telephone interview. "People and animals can go anywhere on Earth, whereas wheeled and tracked things are very limited in where they can go."

In fact, the Army relied on mules as all-terrain cargo carriers well into the 20th century.

Chris Stephens/The Plain DealerAlexander Boxerbaum, a researcher at Case Western Reserve University, snaps a picture of one of Case's cockroach-inspired robots as it tries to crawl over a mechanized yellow salamander, created in France.

Metin Sitti, with the Robotics Institute and department of mechanical engineering at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, is responsible for some small robots inspired by the basilisk lizard, which can run across water.

Engineers are in the business of finding technical solutions, and Sitti proposed the water walker as a project for his students.

Sitti also has been involved with creating small robots that can climb vertically like a spider. They are suited to exploration and inspection, including in the less-accessible reaches of buildings and aircraft.

Of course, Sitti admitted, they also have entertainment value.

But the amusement is not shared by all.

Sitti said the airlines and airport security "are very tough on these electronic devices."